Notes

We are in receipt of the following letter from Walter W(ade) Smith, who has quite a lot of information on the Ballou family. We thank him for his letter and for the information therein contained. The letter follows:

P. O. Box 150
Moscow, Idaho
October 21, 1953

Calvin Gregory
Lafayette, Tennessee

My Dear Editor:

Three copies of your paper, ?Macon County Times,? were delivered to my P. O. Box this week. I have read them completely as they breathe a fine spirit of the middle South as I knew it half a century ago. I note particularly your data on the Ballou family, and your mention of my name as one of the sources of information on the Ballous. I was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky, and grew up with the Ballou descendants of James Ballou and ?Frankey? Jones. The ?first day?s work? I ever did for hire, I did for John Bell Jones, a nephew of Frances Jones Ballou. Yes, I am on ?This Side of the Flood,? in pretty good health, although retired some four years from the University where I taught for 21 years, closing my work there in June, 1949. I still do considerable ?speaking,? serve a Methodist church at Garfield, Washington, some 25 miles northwest of Moscow, as supply pastor. We drive over there every Sunday morning and visit among the members one day a week. Do some extra speaking for the University of Idaho, upon call, usually in the more distant parts of the State. Write some, and still gather genealogical information on my Smiths, and their kin.

It was a great pleasure to read your paper, and particularly the Ballou notes. The Ballous have intermarried with the Smiths and their kin, several times and I have busied myself betimes in gathering data on the genealogy of the Ballous, although none too succcessfully. I do have some data gathered from the Virginia State and County Records, and from the Bibles and traditions of the older members of the family. I find, however, that tradition is a very unworthy source of genealogical data. It is a great source of direction, and points the way towards many items that can be proven; but one cannot rely upon tradition solely as a basis for family history. Sometimes it is off one, two or three generations in point of time, and sometimes quite unreliable in point of person or place. However, we seek it at every turn when valid data is not at hand; but must yield always to the public record, the Tombstone or Bible Family Record when obtainable. This, of course, you already know; but I want you to know that I also know that, too.

I have quite a large volume of notes on the Ballou Family, much of which still unsupported tradition, some verified by public records, some by Bible records; but with much yet to be desired to complete the lineage of the family from the immigrant Ballou ancestor. I shall be glad to share with you, all that I have of either, or all. My knowledge of the Ballous begins with visits with my father, Martin Beaty Smith, to the home of Rev. Allen Ballou, at Burnside, Kentucky, about 1885 to 1889, when he died; then for three more years until we left Pulaski County, Kentucky, with mother or alone, meeting and knowing these Ballous and Jones. Later in life I began gathering data on my Smiths, and their married kin, and came upon them again. They are an interesting family, of very ancient origin. I have had inquires and help from many who, like me, were seeking data on this family, and I am glad to find you interested to the point of publication and research on the matter.

The Ballou Family is of French Huguenot origin, and dates far back into French history. The first of whom I have any data was Antoine Boileau, b. 1381, d. 1459, treasurer of the Royal Property at Nismes and Beaucaire; his son, Guillaume (William) Boileau (Ballou), b. 1420, d. 1494 married Elienette Bourdin, daughter of Jean Bourdin; issue, Antoine, Guilliaume, Jean, Madeliene, Nicholas, Agnes, and Jeanne. One of this family named Charles Boileau, Sqr. d. Castleman, born 1626, Counsellor at Nismes, 1652; was imprisoned in 1685 at St. pierre Ancise, at Lyons till he died January 17, 1697, married November 18, 1664 to Dlle Francoise des Vignolles, daughter of Jacques des Vignolles, who escaped into Switzerland and died at Geneva January 14, 1700. They left 22 children, several of whom took service with the English Army, etc., Ref. Huguenot Pedigrees; Charles E. Hart, London, 1928. In O?Harts Irish Pedigrees, Vol. 2, p. 464, there is mention of Huguenot Boileaus in Ireland, one Charles Boileau, son of Jacques Boileau 5th, Baron and Counsellor of Nesmes, France, etc., served in the English Army, Capt. of Infantry, settled in Dublin, had sons, Simon, Solomon, etc.

Evidently some of these Boileaus (Ballous) came in to England even before the terrible days of 1685. It was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes that seems to have sent the Huguenot Boileaus (Ballous) out of France instead of the French Revolution of 1798, etc., as tradition seems to indicate.

In March of 1941, a Mrs. George C. Lewis, (Marcia Moss Lewis), of 8 Summit Grove Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, also a
Ballou researcher, sent me data on early Ballous in Virginia. She found, that the first Ballou come to Virginia, was ?Lt. Col. William Ballou, who came to Virginia with the Kings Troops to protect the Colonists from the Indians, and remained. He married Dorothy Clarke, daughter of John Clarke. His will is on record in Henrico County, Virginia, Will Book II, p. 32 for April 5, 1678; sons mentioned, Leonard, William and Thomas.? Of this William Ballou, Jr. son of Col. William Ballou, she says, that his will, recorded in Henrico County, Virginia, Will Book, Vol. VI, p. 197, dated February 3, 1700, left ten children without naming them, evidently minors, etc., that his widow Dorothy Ballou, died soon after her husband, naming one son, Charles Ballou. That Charles Ballou died, will date January 17, 1726 and names wife, Tabitha; children, Charles Jr., Sarah, Michael, Phoebe and Mary. That Charles Ballou Jr. died Cumberland County, Virginia, 1767, will in Book II, P. 333; wife Temperance, and children William, Annie, Charles (3rd), Jesse, Thomas John and Mary Ballou.

From other sources I have the will of Thomas Ballou in Abermarle Co., Virginia, August 13, 1750; Wife, Jane, children, Thomas, Dorothy, Micha, and Jane Ballou. Same county, February 14, 1753, is will of Bennett Ballou; wife, Agnes, children, Leonard, Executor, brother John Ballou. Another will, Susanna Ballou, September 25, 1775; children, Robert, Ann, Charles, Thomas, Joseph, John Leonard, a grandchild, Leonard Patterson. Executor, Leonard Ballou, and witnesses, Joseph Ballou, Dianah Ballou and Robert Ballou, proven February 12, 1756.

Lt. Col. William Ballou, had grants of land in Henrico Co., Virginia, October 1, 1651, 406 acres on North side of Appomattox River near the falls. In this land grant he is called ?Major William Ballow.? Again he has a grant with Jerome Hame, February 17, 1652 for 1050 acres, in which he is called ?Lt. Col. Bellew,? Land Book III p. 185.

Now for what tradition has built up on the Ballou Family: ?One Leonard Ballou, from Ireland, a French Huguenot, who married Esther Meredith, daughter of Rhys Meredith, of Wales, came to Virginia, and left a son, Rice (Rhys) Meredith Ballou, born in Virginia early in the 1700?s, married a cousin named Ballou, and left a son, Leonard Ballou, born in Virginia somewhere on the James River about 1742.?

This Leonard Ballou is the one who is reputed upon best authority to have driven a herd of beef cattle to Philadelphia, during the early days of the Revolutionary War and to have died there of smallpox. I suspect that the actual confusion began here. His family is given as different by different traditions. The first one to come to me from the Kentucky Ballous, was: Children, Leonard, James Owen, Meredith, Elizabeth, Margaret, Susannah, Tamzon, Esther, Catherine and William Ballou. Of these children, Leonard Ballou was supposed to be a Baptist minister, born about 1762, married Sallie Wingfield, and had William, Charles, Thomas H., Robert and Joseph Ballou. James Ballou, the 2nd child, married Frances Jones and settled in Pulaski County, Kentucky. I have a good list of his descendants and it was from his children that we got our traditions. Owen Meredith Ballou was a Baptist minister born in Virginia, September 29, 1766. This I have from R. L. Ballou, Lawyer, etc., of Creston, N.C., in 1941. He then had access to the Bible of his great-great-grandfather, Owen Meredith Ballou. This R. L. Ballou, of Creston, N.C., said that Owen Meredith Ballou, was the son of Leonard Ballou who went to Philadelphia with a herd of beef steers and died of smallpox. He also says that Susan Ballou, daughter of Leonard Ballou, born in 1757, married John Rutherford, of Kings Mountain Fame, etc. Further R. L. Ballou, of Creston, N.C., also said that the widow of Leonard Ballou and a son, James Ballou, removed to Tennessee.

It is possible that our Ballou Lineage could stem from Leonard Ballou, son of Lt. Col. William Ballou, of English Army, etc., died 1678; but that would leave only about two generations of the traditional line to be correct to cover 90 years, 1652? to 1742? Of course, we haven?t all the details even by tradition, so must search further.

I say again I was glad to get your papers, and to learn that some one was still searching for the origin of the Ballous in America. There are a great many Ballous scattered about throughout the whole United States, and many have lost completely all connection with the parent stem of the family. It is well that some one who knows first hand some of the vital facts keep matter alive until this be settled and written up for permanent record. I have read the ?Ballou Family in America,? giving special attention to the family descended from Maturin Ballou of New England, and the fragments of the Ballou Family History from the Virginia Ballous up to about 1876. Some of this must have been misunderstood or reported badly; as it is not clear in many instances just who is the ancestor of what set of children.

I haven?t done much more than answer inquires on the Ballou Family since 1941, I, at that time, did about all I could to get a clear view of our Ballou cousins, as I am not a Ballou descendant, but have many Ballou cousins in Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana.

Father died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, August 9, 1889, and my mother, Melissa Annis Stephens Smith, removed in 1891 to Johnson County, Missouri. I went to High School at Holden, Missouri, married there in 1901, Margaret Eunice Winn, and had three sons. Mrs. Smith died after we came to Moscow, and I later married Elsie Riddle, from a Jefferson County, Tennessee family, which was intermarried with Tylers, Westers, Hauns and other East Tennessee families. Most of these families came from southern Virginia to East Tennessee, so the Stephens and Riddles have been neighbors for more than 150 years.

Another family that we knew to some extent, was that of Levi Jones, from Virginia, to Pulaski County, Kentucky, whose daughter, Frances (Franky) Jones, married Rev. James Ballou. We lived neighbors to Allen Jones, a son of this Levi Jones, and brother of Frances Jones Ballou.

I was educated (so to speak) at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and preached and taught for several years, was in Kansas City about 8 years, went to California in 1924 and came to Moscow to teach in the University of Idaho in 1927, and was retired for age (70), June, 1949 as Prof. Emeritus in College of Education. I have been interested in the history of the Smiths and their kin since I was a boy. Our Smiths are from Rowan County, N.C., as are most of our intermarried kin. Stephens, from Henry County, Virginia, Hughes (grandmother) probably from Rowan County, N.C., Massey, from Rowan County, N.C., Lee (great-grandmother) from Virginia, (Cobb Hall Lees).

I shall look forward to another issue of your paper, with more Ballou information. If I can help you will gladly share with you all that I have gathered on that or any other family. May I hear from you in person if I can be of help? With sincerest best wishes, I am.

Most respectively,
WALTER W. SMITH.

We thank Prof. Smith for many items of information on the Ballou, Smith, Jones and other families. We shall be glad to have any information he may give us. Again we extend our sincere thanks.

FROM Ballous in America by Hawley 1937: that sometime during the Revolutionary War Leonard2 took a drove of beef cattle to Philadelphia for sale, where he was attacked by small pox and died; and that later his widow and several of her chn. emigrated to West Tennessee.

Leonard Ballou and his brothers fled France during the FrenchRevolution. 2 of these brothers were col's in Army.

Letter from T.C. Ballou obtained by Edith Colyer Curtis

This Letter is in response to numerous inquiries for informationconcerning the heirs of Leonard Ballou and his two brothers, James andWilliam, who left France during the great social and political upheaval,the French Revolution.

When the National Convention of 800 members came into completecontrol of the government it was utterly hostile to the monarchy andnobility.

It declared France a Republic in 1792, tried and beheaded the Kingin 1793: and took vigorous action to defend itself against the coalitionof European autocrats aimed at its overthrow and the restoration of theBourbons. In this it was successful.

After hundreds of priests and royalists had been butchered by theParis Commune, in those terrible September Massacres. The reign ofterror was pouring in a steady stream of noble heads into the basket ofthe guillotine: after Lafayette had fled to Austria, the Bamouriez, whohad opposed the execution of Louis, had deserted to the enemy, thesethree Ballou brothers (two of whom were Colonels in the army) decided toleave their unhappy country and come to America.

On their way to America, they stopped in Dublin, Ireland, andLeonard married a lady of rank by the name of Meridith.

These brothers at first settled in Bottetourt county, Virginia.Soon afterward, Leonard, my great grandfather exchanged his Virginia homefor vast tracts of land among the smiling hills and valleys of WesternNorth Carolina. It is said he was influenced to do this, not alone bythe visions of vast mineral wealth, but because that land of the longleaf pine--that summer land where the sun doth shine---appealed moststrongly to his poetic fancy.

Here lived and died, on the hills overlooking New River, his son,Meridith, whose life was long, busy and useful, and who reared a familyof ten boys and girls. These children are scattered to the four cornersof the globe---many of them in Kentucky.

Meredith left a mane and example of which his family and fellowcitizens were justly proud. At the time of his death he had acquiredover thirty thousand acres of land, much of it stored with the vastmineral wealth still in the family. Here, in the land he loved, he wasgathered up to his fathers, and sleeps beneath the mumering pines high upon the New River hill that commands an extensive and beautiful view overthe wide domain he once called his own.

The legend of a vast estate in France has been recited among us formany, many years; but, if we never act that, let us take pleasure in thereflection someone else enjoys it. A proper investigatin would beattended, perhaps with extreme difficulty.

There is no probate court in France, no central office where willsare filed; and it is possible---if not probable---that an estate of themagnitude I have been lead to believe the Ballou's would be foundoutlawed by the statutes of limitations.

While our forbears in France were Bourbons of the Bourbons, theirmigration to America and long sojourn among the crags and peaks of thefree Alleghenies transmuted the dross of their aristocratic,monarvhistic, political and social faiths into the finest gold of modernconstitutional and representative democracy.

A heritage this, it seems to me, we should all be glad to hold inlife.

We are in receipt of the following letter from Walter W(ade) Smith, who has quite a lot of information on the Ballou family. We thank him for his letter and for the information therein contained. The letter follows:

P. O. Box 150
Moscow, Idaho
October 21, 1953

Calvin Gregory
Lafayette, Tennessee

My Dear Editor:

Three copies of your paper, ?Macon County Times,? were delivered to my P. O. Box this week. I have read them completely as they breathe a fine spirit of the middle South as I knew it half a century ago. I note particularly your data on the Ballou family, and your mention of my name as one of the sources of information on the Ballous. I was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky, and grew up with the Ballou descendants of James Ballou and ?Frankey? Jones. The ?first day?s work? I ever did for hire, I did for John Bell Jones, a nephew of Frances Jones Ballou. Yes, I am on ?This Side of the Flood,? in pretty good health, although retired some four years from the University where I taught for 21 years, closing my work there in June, 1949. I still do considerable ?speaking,? serve a Methodist church at Garfield, Washington, some 25 miles northwest of Moscow, as supply pastor. We drive over there every Sunday morning and visit among the members one day a week. Do some extra speaking for the University of Idaho, upon call, usually in the more distant parts of the State. Write some, and still gather genealogical information on my Smiths, and their kin.

It was a great pleasure to read your paper, and particularly the Ballou notes. The Ballous have intermarried with the Smiths and their kin, several times and I have busied myself betimes in gathering data on the genealogy of the Ballous, although none too succcessfully. I do have some data gathered from the Virginia State and County Records, and from the Bibles and traditions of the older members of the family. I find, however, that tradition is a very unworthy source of genealogical data. It is a great source of direction, and points the way towards many items that can be proven; but one cannot rely upon tradition solely as a basis for family history. Sometimes it is off one, two or three generations in point of time, and sometimes quite unreliable in point of person or place. However, we seek it at every turn when valid data is not at hand; but must yield always to the public record, the Tombstone or Bible Family Record when obtainable. This, of course, you already know; but I want you to know that I also know that, too.

I have quite a large volume of notes on the Ballou Family, much of which still unsupported tradition, some verified by public records, some by Bible records; but with much yet to be desired to complete the lineage of the family from the immigrant Ballou ancestor. I shall be glad to share with you, all that I have of either, or all. My knowledge of the Ballous begins with visits with my father, Martin Beaty Smith, to the home of Rev. Allen Ballou, at Burnside, Kentucky, about 1885 to 1889, when he died; then for three more years until we left Pulaski County, Kentucky, with mother or alone, meeting and knowing these Ballous and Jones. Later in life I began gathering data on my Smiths, and their married kin, and came upon them again. They are an interesting family, of very ancient origin. I have had inquires and help from many who, like me, were seeking data on this family, and I am glad to find you interested to the point of publication and research on the matter.

The Ballou Family is of French Huguenot origin, and dates far back into French history. The first of whom I have any data was Antoine Boileau, b. 1381, d. 1459, treasurer of the Royal Property at Nismes and Beaucaire; his son, Guillaume (William) Boileau (Ballou), b. 1420, d. 1494 married Elienette Bourdin, daughter of Jean Bourdin; issue, Antoine, Guilliaume, Jean, Madeliene, Nicholas, Agnes, and Jeanne. One of this family named Charles Boileau, Sqr. d. Castleman, born 1626, Counsellor at Nismes, 1652; was imprisoned in 1685 at St. pierre Ancise, at Lyons till he died January 17, 1697, married November 18, 1664 to Dlle Francoise des Vignolles, daughter of Jacques des Vignolles, who escaped into Switzerland and died at Geneva January 14, 1700. They left 22 children, several of whom took service with the English Army, etc., Ref. Huguenot Pedigrees; Charles E. Hart, London, 1928. In O?Harts Irish Pedigrees, Vol. 2, p. 464, there is mention of Huguenot Boileaus in Ireland, one Charles Boileau, son of Jacques Boileau 5th, Baron and Counsellor of Nesmes, France, etc., served in the English Army, Capt. of Infantry, settled in Dublin, had sons, Simon, Solomon, etc.

Evidently some of these Boileaus (Ballous) came in to England even before the terrible days of 1685. It was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes that seems to have sent the Huguenot Boileaus (Ballous) out of France instead of the French Revolution of 1798, etc., as tradition seems to indicate.

In March of 1941, a Mrs. George C. Lewis, (Marcia Moss Lewis), of 8 Summit Grove Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, also a
Ballou researcher, sent me data on early Ballous in Virginia. She found, that the first Ballou come to Virginia, was ?Lt. Col. William Ballou, who came to Virginia with the Kings Troops to protect the Colonists from the Indians, and remained. He married Dorothy Clarke, daughter of John Clarke. His will is on record in Henrico County, Virginia, Will Book II, p. 32 for April 5, 1678; sons mentioned, Leonard, William and Thomas.? Of this William Ballou, Jr. son of Col. William Ballou, she says, that his will, recorded in Henrico County, Virginia, Will Book, Vol. VI, p. 197, dated February 3, 1700, left ten children without naming them, evidently minors, etc., that his widow Dorothy Ballou, died soon after her husband, naming one son, Charles Ballou. That Charles Ballou died, will date January 17, 1726 and names wife, Tabitha; children, Charles Jr., Sarah, Michael, Phoebe and Mary. That Charles Ballou Jr. died Cumberland County, Virginia, 1767, will in Book II, P. 333; wife Temperance, and children William, Annie, Charles (3rd), Jesse, Thomas John and Mary Ballou.

From other sources I have the will of Thomas Ballou in Abermarle Co., Virginia, August 13, 1750; Wife, Jane, children, Thomas, Dorothy, Micha, and Jane Ballou. Same county, February 14, 1753, is will of Bennett Ballou; wife, Agnes, children, Leonard, Executor, brother John Ballou. Another will, Susanna Ballou, September 25, 1775; children, Robert, Ann, Charles, Thomas, Joseph, John Leonard, a grandchild, Leonard Patterson. Executor, Leonard Ballou, and witnesses, Joseph Ballou, Dianah Ballou and Robert Ballou, proven February 12, 1756.

Lt. Col. William Ballou, had grants of land in Henrico Co., Virginia, October 1, 1651, 406 acres on North side of Appomattox River near the falls. In this land grant he is called ?Major William Ballow.? Again he has a grant with Jerome Hame, February 17, 1652 for 1050 acres, in which he is called ?Lt. Col. Bellew,? Land Book III p. 185.

Now for what tradition has built up on the Ballou Family: ?One Leonard Ballou, from Ireland, a French Huguenot, who married Esther Meredith, daughter of Rhys Meredith, of Wales, came to Virginia, and left a son, Rice (Rhys) Meredith Ballou, born in Virginia early in the 1700?s, married a cousin named Ballou, and left a son, Leonard Ballou, born in Virginia somewhere on the James River about 1742.?

This Leonard Ballou is the one who is reputed upon best authority to have driven a herd of beef cattle to Philadelphia, during the early days of the Revolutionary War and to have died there of smallpox. I suspect that the actual confusion began here. His family is given as different by different traditions. The first one to come to me from the Kentucky Ballous, was: Children, Leonard, James Owen, Meredith, Elizabeth, Margaret, Susannah, Tamzon, Esther, Catherine and William Ballou. Of these children, Leonard Ballou was supposed to be a Baptist minister, born about 1762, married Sallie Wingfield, and had William, Charles, Thomas H., Robert and Joseph Ballou. James Ballou, the 2nd child, married Frances Jones and settled in Pulaski County, Kentucky. I have a good list of his descendants and it was from his children that we got our traditions. Owen Meredith Ballou was a Baptist minister born in Virginia, September 29, 1766. This I have from R. L. Ballou, Lawyer, etc., of Creston, N.C., in 1941. He then had access to the Bible of his great-great-grandfather, Owen Meredith Ballou. This R. L. Ballou, of Creston, N.C., said that Owen Meredith Ballou, was the son of Leonard Ballou who went to Philadelphia with a herd of beef steers and died of smallpox. He also says that Susan Ballou, daughter of Leonard Ballou, born in 1757, married John Rutherford, of Kings Mountain Fame, etc. Further R. L. Ballou, of Creston, N.C., also said that the widow of Leonard Ballou and a son, James Ballou, removed to Tennessee.

It is possible that our Ballou Lineage could stem from Leonard Ballou, son of Lt. Col. William Ballou, of English Army, etc., died 1678; but that would leave only about two generations of the traditional line to be correct to cover 90 years, 1652? to 1742? Of course, we haven?t all the details even by tradition, so must search further.

I say again I was glad to get your papers, and to learn that some one was still searching for the origin of the Ballous in America. There are a great many Ballous scattered about throughout the whole United States, and many have lost completely all connection with the parent stem of the family. It is well that some one who knows first hand some of the vital facts keep matter alive until this be settled and written up for permanent record. I have read the ?Ballou Family in America,? giving special attention to the family descended from Maturin Ballou of New England, and the fragments of the Ballou Family History from the Virginia Ballous up to about 1876. Some of this must have been misunderstood or reported badly; as it is not clear in many instances just who is the ancestor of what set of children.

I haven?t done much more than answer inquires on the Ballou Family since 1941, I, at that time, did about all I could to get a clear view of our Ballou cousins, as I am not a Ballou descendant, but have many Ballou cousins in Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana.

Father died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, August 9, 1889, and my mother, Melissa Annis Stephens Smith, removed in 1891 to Johnson County, Missouri. I went to High School at Holden, Missouri, married there in 1901, Margaret Eunice Winn, and had three sons. Mrs. Smith died after we came to Moscow, and I later married Elsie Riddle, from a Jefferson County, Tennessee family, which was intermarried with Tylers, Westers, Hauns and other East Tennessee families. Most of these families came from southern Virginia to East Tennessee, so the Stephens and Riddles have been neighbors for more than 150 years.

Another family that we knew to some extent, was that of Levi Jones, from Virginia, to Pulaski County, Kentucky, whose daughter, Frances (Franky) Jones, married Rev. James Ballou. We lived neighbors to Allen Jones, a son of this Levi Jones, and brother of Frances Jones Ballou.

I was educated (so to speak) at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and preached and taught for several years, was in Kansas City about 8 years, went to California in 1924 and came to Moscow to teach in the University of Idaho in 1927, and was retired for age (70), June, 1949 as Prof. Emeritus in College of Education. I have been interested in the history of the Smiths and their kin since I was a boy. Our Smiths are from Rowan County, N.C., as are most of our intermarried kin. Stephens, from Henry County, Virginia, Hughes (grandmother) probably from Rowan County, N.C., Massey, from Rowan County, N.C., Lee (great-grandmother) from Virginia, (Cobb Hall Lees).

I shall look forward to another issue of your paper, with more Ballou information. If I can help you will gladly share with you all that I have gathered on that or any other family. May I hear from you in person if I can be of help? With sincerest best wishes, I am.

Most respectively,
WALTER W. SMITH.

We thank Prof. Smith for many items of information on the Ballou, Smith, Jones and other families. We shall be glad to have any information he may give us. Again we extend our sincere thanks.

Harriette Simpson Arnow, in her 1986 book titled Old Burnside, pub. The University Press of Kentucky, in the first chapter of books writes: in 1849 "During this same year a great event happened in Point Isabel: the first settler came. James Ballou, fifty-one years old and of French Descent, paid Daniel Smith and his wife, Elizabeth, $1,000 for a large boundary of land that began on Cumberland River and extended over most of what would become lower Burnside, excluding a strip of land along the South Fork.....

There were fifteen children in the Ballou home, and Shortly after moving to Point Isabel, they began to marry and settle in homes of their own. On of the older Ballou boys, Levi bought a small tract of land from his father; less than a year later he put up a dwelling and married Polly Ann Lewis. He sold out in 1857 to W.T. Heath and moved away. Another Ballou boy, Allen, married Nancy Lewis, daughter of John Shelby Lewis, and settled nearby in Antioch. Allen is one of the best remembered of James Ballou's children, partly because he lived until 1928, dying at ninety, bu mainly because of the sermons many older people had heard him preach in the Antioch Church of Christ and elsewhere. "

Family Index is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ky/pulaski/vitals.html

1855 Births; page 6

S/C = Sex/Condition (Alive or Dead)
Co = Color (White, Black, or Mulatto)
PC = Pulaski County, KY
(Scroll to the right for full place info)

Typescript page preceeding actual records: "1855-1856 Pulaski County Births - All births on the
following assessor's list are assumed to be 1855 unless they are dated 1856." [this transcription
only lists the year if given - no assumptions have been made. vjd]

Birth Date Child S/C Father/Owner Mother Co Birthplace Residence

11 Dec Maria E. Ballow F/A Levi Ballow Polly Ann Lewis W C. River PC

Per letter to Cal Smith editor of Lafayette TN Smith County tn newspaper October 1, 1953, Mary Ballou Lewis was living then in Greenwood KY.

Diary of a Geological Tour by Dr. Elisha Mitchell in 1827 and 1828 with Introduction and Notes by Dr. Kemp P. Battle, LL.D.
Published as James Sprunt Historical Monograph No. 6, by the University of North Carolina, 1905

45. Meredith Ballou, a Frenchman, came to Ashe about A.D. 1800, and died in 1847, bought nearly all the available iron ore in the county. He was an influential man, surveyor of note, and was for a while County Surveyor. He left sons and daughters, all of whom had families. Among his sons was Napoleon Ballou to whom he deeded all his mineral interests a year before he died and Napoleon endeavored by will to entail his property, but the will was broken. There was also litigation over the purchase of his interests at a Sheriff's sale. Many prominent lawyers were employed on one side or the other of the various Ballou suits, including two concerning the will of Meredith Ballou. It is said that Napoleon once refused $50,000 cash for his interests. The old forge is not worked now and has not been for years. A grandson of the old Frenchman, Albert Lucien Ballou, was a law student of the University of N.C. in 1902.

Watson Ballou, veteran of the Civil war and well known resident of Deer Creek south of this city, died at the family resident this morning, aged eighty years. He was born in Wayne county Kentucky, March 23, 1840. On January 29, 1861 he was united in marriage to Driscilla Dick, who survives him. Had Ballou lived until the twenty-ninth of this month the couple would have been married sixty years.

At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Ballou enlisted in Company K. 12th regiment, Kentucky Infantry. On November 18, 1861 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the same company. June 28, 1863 he was promoted to first lieutenant. He left the service February 21, 1864 by resignition.

Besides the widow, Mr. Ballou is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Emma Forgey of Deer Creek, and Mrs. Laura Fellows of Kokomo; six grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Arrangements have been made to hold the funeral at the home in Deer Creek Thursday morning at 10:30. Burial will take place in the Deer Creek cemetery.

06/16/2017 : according to Vance Hargis, a life long Somerset resident who was raised in Piney Grove section of Blaze Valley in east Pulaski County, he found court records of a Mr Black estate who had lived in Blaze Valley. Vance had been researching some slave cabin remains on property in Blaze Valley.

http://www.donnneal.com/blevins-taylor.html
MY FAMILY
THROUGH HISTORY
Donn C. Neal

......Leaving this matter unresolved as well, we turn to Samuel Blevins himself. During the 1770s and 1780s numerous Blevins families populated what is called the New River area in southwestern Virginia. At this time, the spread of settlers into this region led to the formation of new Virginia counties in rapid order. Finding Samuel Blevins here during his earlier years is made somewhat easier by the fact that he seems to have been the only Blevins male with that given name in Virginia at that time, as well as in Kentucky later on. Our guess is that Samuel was born around 1745. He first comes to our attention in 1777 and 1778, when a Samuel Blevins swore two loyalty oaths in Henry County, Virginia, where there was a sizeable colony of Blevins families. The next year, 1779, Samuel was a witness to a deed in that same county. These oaths indicated his switch of allegiance from King George III to the new state of Virginia and to the even newer United States that Virginia had helped to create.

In this connection, it is interesting to observe that in 1775 and 1776, the Fincastle (Virginia) Committee of Safety ? one of the proto-governmental groups that had sprung up in many of the American counties as the conflict with Britain reached a boil ? had taken notice of James and William Blevins, whom they probably suspected of disloyalty. Fincastle County then included a vast area just west of Henry County and Montgomery County. This James could have been our Samuel's father, as we shall see. There continue to be hints through the 1780s of the reluctance of certain Blevins men to support the American Revolution. In fact, despite his oaths in 1781 we find Samuel Blevins himself was enrolled as a private in Captain Thomas Hamilton's Loyalist Company in Hillsborough, North Carolina (not far south of Henry County, Virginia). Samuel is described as a deserter on this list, however, so his true allegiance at this time remains in doubt.

The next year, 1782, Samuel Blevins is on the tax list of Montgomery County, Virginia, the home of another colony of Blevins families. Also that year, the sheriff of Henry County took him into custody while his political views were investigated. Samuel must have been judged reliable now, for in 1783 he was listed among the members of Captain Flower Swift's militia unit in Montgomery County. Samuel "Blevin" later appears on a list of those who received certificates for pay due for service in the Continental forces. These certificates were issued during 1783-85 and were redeemed in 1790. Unfortunately, there is no unit listed for this man, who was owed $59.70. Neither is there any evidence in the National Archives that he was a member of any of the Continental forces, but to have been paid this amount he must have been deemed eligible for reasons we cannot determine. All this leaves us wondering whether Samuel was a British loyalist (as at least one brother was), an American patriot, an opportunist who took whatever side seemed most advantageous at the moment, a young man who could not make up his mind, or a man without convictions who bent to whichever faction was pressuring him to make a commitment. Also in 1785, Samuel Blevins was a witness in a court case in Henry County.

After the war ended, Samuel Blevins is on tax lists or the Virginia census in Henry County, Virginia, in 1785, in 1787, on May 28, 1788, and on October 23, 1789. The tax lists and other records for the Blevins males show that their properties were located on Chestnut Meadow Creek, Crooked Creek, and Grassy Creek, as well as on the Fox River. These tributaries were all in what is generally spoken of as the Mouth of Wilson area in the New River region. Most of this area was in Botetourt County until 1772, in Fincastle County until 1777, and then in Montgomery County until 1790. In that year the area would become the new Wythe County and in 1793 the even newer Grayson County.15 It is just above the border with extreme western North Carolina and close to extreme northeastern Tennessee, where some Blevins families are also known to have lived at about this time.16

Sometime after 1790, numerous Blevins males ? Samuel and his presumed son Lemuel among them ? would make the trip over the mountains to Lincoln County, Kentucky, which at that time formed the entire southeastern quadrant of the new state of Kentucky. It is possible that their route took them through areas now in northwestern North Carolina and northeastern Tennessee, but there is no firm evidence of this. By October 1792 Samuel had become a taxpayer in Lincoln County. He repeatedly appeared on the tax rolls first there and then in Pulaski County (formed from Lincoln County in 1801) from 1792 through 1809, when a four-year gap in the records begins, and then again in 1813. In 1809 and 1813 Samuel Blevins is described as being exempt from the tax levy, which is consistent with a Pulaski County court order dated May 26, 1806, that excused him from the county levy owing to his infirmity. During the years when he was taxed, Samuel was living variously on Hanging Fork, Cinch Creek, Dix River, and Brush or Brushy Creek.17

The absence of census records in 1800 for Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky prevents us from discovering exactly where Samuel Blevins was living in that year, but we presume he was residing somewhere in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Only in 1810 does he appear on the census, now in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Here he was enumerated as forty-five years old or older, and a female in his household was placed in that same age category. Sometime between then and 1814, Samuel and his sons (Lemuel excepted) evidently moved northwestward to Jefferson County, Kentucky: a Samuel Blevins shows up on the tax rolls in Middletown Township there in 1814 and continues to be listed through 1818 but not thereafter. We cannot tell whether the man taxed in these years was the older Samuel, who perhaps had not yet been able to get himself exempted in this county, or the younger Samuel, who became twenty-one years of age in 1814. My guess is that the younger man was the one being taxed and that by 1815 his father, also our Lemuel's father, was already living with young Samuel, as he appears to have been doing in 1820.

Why was neither Samuel taxed after 1818? As we have seen in an earlier chapter, Jefferson County's tax information is spotty for these years, which handicaps our ability to answer this question, but it is also possible the father's exemption was approved about 1818. A better explanation may be that neither Blevins lived in Jefferson County after then. We know a Samuel Blevins (father or son?) purchased a lot on Main Street in Floydsburg, in Oldham County, in 1818, and it seems likely that the older Samuel lived out his life there. The 1820 census we considered earlier in this chapter is our last glimpse of any kind of Samuel Blevins, and it seems almost certain that he died sometime during the 1820s. The confusion of the clerk when Lemuel died in 1829, as we have seen, suggests that he had recently encountered Samuel's name too. The fact that Samuel Blevins, Jr., sold the Floydsburg lot in late 1828 might also indicate that his father had recently died.18

14. It is also possible that the older Samuel Blevins had died in either Lincoln County or Pulaski County, Kentucky, before his sons moved to Jefferson County. If so, the older man in the household of Samuel Blevins on the 1820 census would have been someone else, for example the younger Samuel's father-in-law or even an employee in the family businesses. The 1820 census shows Samuel Blevins had two male slaves, also perhaps workers at the younger man's two businesses. The 1820 census, like the one ten years before, tells us only that the senior Samuel Blevins, if he was in fact the unnamed older man in this household, was born before 1775; the ages of his children indicate that he was probably born about 1745.

15. See the USGS map for Mouth of Wilson/North Carolina. In 1787, Samuel Blevins had two horses and four head of cattle.

16. One Blevins, relationship to Lemuel and Samuel (if any) unknown, is thought to have been the famous "long hunter" called William Blevins. Several of the Blevins males were long hunters, it appears. Long hunters ventured far, often alone, into the unknown western wilderness (principally what would become Kentucky) in search of game and pelts. They got their name for being absent for long periods of time, usually many months.

17. See slides 12952-56, taken in 2008, for these locations. Return to text

18. The estate of Samuel Blevins was inventoried by Jacob Shake, so evidently these two families had known one another well for years ? perhaps were neighbors, in fact ? before our David and Artemisia were married in 1825. There were actually two men named Samuel Blevins on the Lincoln County, Kentucky, census in 1810; they had slightly different family profiles, although the ages of Samuel and his wife are shown as the same in both listings. Blevins researchers seem to agree that Samuel was probably mistakenly recorded on two different sheets and that the second listing is the more accurate one. Two men named Samuel Blevins are on the Jefferson County tax rolls for 1819, but this may be an error of another sort. The Samuel Blevins who does appear on the Jefferson County tax rolls in most years after 1817 is on tax lists in Oldham County, Kentucky, instead during 1827 through 1829. This may help to confirm that Samuel Blevins, Jr., inherited his father's lot during the late 1820s.

Re Lemuel Blevins in Jefferson County Ky, neighbor of John Collier/Colyear on 1820 census:

Lemuel Blevins b. ca. 1779 pbly in Henry Co, VA, married (2nd?) in 1806
> in Lincoln Co, KY Sina (or) Lina Taylor. By 1820, they had eight children,
> none of the names of which are known to me. Census shows:
>
> 1810 Garrand County, KY 1820 Jefferson County, KY
> Lemuel Blevins 26-44 Lemuel Blevins 26-44
> 1 female 16-25 1 female 26-44
> 1 male 16-25 1 male 10-15
> 1 male 10-15 1 female 10-15
> 1 male 0-9 1 male 0-9
> 1 female 0-9 3 females 0-9
>
> This Lemuel was on the 1800 and 1803 Lincoln Co, KY Tax List, and
> was on the 1805 and 1806 Pulaski Co, KY Tax List.
>
> One must wonder if the 1 male age 0-9 in 1820 might be your Seaton Alexander
> Blevins. This Lemuel Blevins may very likely be a son of Samuel Blevins and
> may
> have been married prior to the 1806 KY marriage to Lina/Sina Taylor. Back in
> February there were some postings from Donn Neal - neals@erols.com who is
> a descendant of this Lemuel.
>
> Greenberry Blevins b. ca. 1770 is believed to be a brother of Lemuel, and he
> named a son born in 1809, Alexander Blevins. That Alexander moved to Lodi,
> CA, was married first to a Zumwalt and second Levina Vanderpool.
>
> Tarlton Blevins, born ca. 1798 in Va, possibly the son of Elisha and Rachel
> Blevins, married Sarah Walker, and they had a son Alexander, no info, but
> 1798 seems too late for Tarlton to be the father of your Seaton Alexander B.
> This Tarlton lived in VA, Wayne Co,KY, Henderson, TN, and Clinton, ILL.
>
> Elisha Blevins who was born ca. 1772, was in Wayne Co, KY in 1810, is
> reported to have first married Rebecca ????, and 2nd Polly Roberts. He is
> reported to have died on 21 Sep. 1831 in the Blackhawk War in Clinton Co,
> Ill, and Tarlton Blevins was appointed administrator. Records show that he
> moved to Ill in 1829. Note from a map that there is one county in between
> present day Clinton and Macoupin.
>
> I know I have seen something posted on the List re: Macoupin County, ILL
> Blevins family, but I can't find any record of it now.
>
> This won't help you, except maybe to point in a particular direction.
>
> Best of Luck
> Ron Blevins of West Point, VA

Jack Curtis remembers his father Earl Curtis, talking about visiting his grandfather Botkins farm out in Ruth Kentucky as a boy. Earl often remembered his grandfather Botkin as a taskmaster, working him hard on the farm visits when he was a small boy say of the age of about 12 years old. Jack remembers Earl saying that one time he got so tired of working so hard on the farm upon visiting out there that he and his brothers walked all the way back into Somerset home.

Moses was the fifth child of William Botkin. He married Elizabeth Gastineau. The moved from Pulaski County Ky to Missouri in may and June 1858. They headed west from Somerset, KY in ox carts drawn by three yoke of Oxen. Elizabeth walked behind and drove three milk cows. They had planned to settle around Sedalia, Missouri, but when they got to Missouri, Moses became ill and they were forced to stop.

The story has been told to us by several members of the family that they traded two yoke of Oxen and the cart for 160 acres of land on Bee Fork in Reynolds County, between Centerville and Reynolds, Missouri.

We found the deed recorded at the county seat at Cernterville, Missouri, and obtained a certified copy. It is recorded in Book 2, page 27.

When they came to Missouri, they only had one child, James Morandaham, which was 2 years 4 months of age when they started their near two month journey. they also brought Moses youngest sister, Nancy Adeline, 13 years old and a boy, whom we think belonged to one of of Elizabeth's sisters. We do not know which one. We think he was about 7 years old when they came here. The only name anyone has ever been able to recall is "Little Jackie". When he was about 16 he fell a tree on himself and died before help could get to him.

Also coming along with them was another one of Moses younger sisters, Emily, age 20 years, her husband Jim Lay and their son, Jessie Lay, who was just a baby at that time. As the story goes, one of Jim's Oxen died on the way and they had to put one of milk cows to work with the other Ox.

The women had to wash diapers when they stopped for the night and dry them on the carts the next day as they traveled.

Sometime after they moved here, Elizabeth took Lula White at the age of 11 or 12 to raise, after her mother died. Later Lula married Moses and Elizabeth's youngest son George. They also took three other children to raise, Mary Cavicy and her two brothers. Mary later married James M. Botkin's oldest son, Mackawain. That made six children Elizabeth raised as well as seven children of her own.

Stories have been told to us by older members of the family, about the Soldiers (they called them Bush-Whackers) that came through robbing them of everything they could. Moses was sick in bed with his only pair of pants hanging on the bed post and they took them. Elizabeth had to take a roll of cloth, which she had made, from the attic where she had it hid and had to make Moses another pair of pants before he could get out of bed. They also stole their mik cows and horses. Elizabeth followed them till they camped that night and after they were asleep, she stole the cows and horses back and brought them home and hid them up a hollow in case they came back. They had to go so far to Bunker or Salem for their salt and staples, she kept them hid in cans in the brush pile up on the hill behind the house. This gives us a small picture of the hardships and the kind of life they had in those days. Moses died at age of 47, from the affects of an old over heat.

Three years after Moses died, Elizabeth bought another tract of land, joining the tract they already owned. This deed being recorded in Book 7, page 185. She paid $400 for 127 acres, making total 287 she owned. At this time in 1977 we have just learned the original total acreage is all back together and owned by one person.

We are not sure just when they built the new home to replace the old log house, the one that still stands on the place, which has been remodeled, but the story told to us by Lena Wells from Bremerton Washington and Ethel Botkin of St. Louis, Mo. was that Elizabeth hauled the brick for the fireplace from Centerville, which was 7 miles away. She drove a team of Oxen and a cart. She took George with her and he was still in dresses and the Oxen ran away with them.

We are told by another member of the family that someime after Moses died, Elizabeth was married for a short time to Jamers Sutterfield. "Uncle Jimmy" was born Sept 5, 1840.

Elizabeth died from acute indigestion at the age of 78, 2 months 13 days. Both Moses and Elizabeth are buried in the Bee Fork Cemetery.

NEWS: Excerpts from The Somerset Journal, 25 June 1920
Sells More Edens. The Somerset Hardware Co. gives a lit of those who have
purchased Eden Washing Machines in an "ad' this week. Since the "ad" was
printed the company reports the following sales which should have been added:
Kenwick Hotel, Mrs. Chas. Colyer, Newtonian Hotel, and Mrs. J.C. Curtis.

Jack Curtis said that the Kenwick Hotel was at the end of Main Street in Somerset in the 90 degree turn before going down the hill toward the old Somerset Mill.

Both Lavonia Hyman and Jack Curtis remember Savanah as one to tell of her ailments in great length as an older woman.

There is a Sion Bradley that has land and dies in Missouri in 1846. Not sure if this is same one. His will mentions Thomas Bradley as a son. The Missouri Sion Bradley was a early Christian Church minister.

parents ran rooming house in Russell Springs, KY. Jack Curtis thought it might have been a mineral springs resort type hotel. They were from Jamestown KY. Lovonia died at about age 29 of TB and is buried next to church in Jamestown Kentucky.

http://files.usgwarchives.org/mo/cooper/bibles/jcalvin.txt
The John Calvert Family Bible
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Washington County, TN - BIBLES - The John Calvert Family Bible
According to the contributor, the Calvert family moved to Cooper
County, MO after living in Washington County, TN.

According to the contributor, the Calvert family lived in Loudon County
before moving to Washington County, TN.

BIRTHS:
John Calvert was born October the 19th, in the year of our Lord, 1781
Dorcas Calvert was born Mrch the 20th, in the year of our Lord, 1785
William Calvert was born Sept the 15th, Anna Domia, 1803
Ursula Calvert was born July 5th A.D. 1805
Leonard Calvert was born Octber the 1st, A.D. 1807
John Calvert was born March 23rd. A.D. 1809
Nancy Calvert was born December 24th. A.D. 1810
Elizabeth Calvert was born Oct the 9th, A.D. 1812
Martin Calvert was born May 12th. A.D. 1815
Noding Calvert was born DEc 13th A.D. 1817
Tabitha Calvert was born Feb. 26th A.D. 1820
Agnes W. Calvert was born the 25th of November 1825
George T. Calvert was born the 1st day of September 1842
Cyrus P. Calvert was born the 8th day of November 1844
Sarah E. Calvert was born the 17th day of November 1846
Laveina A. Calvert was born April 6th 1849
Joseph T. Calvert was born the 7th day of April 1854
Elizabeth Calvert was born August 3rd, 1856
Eri Calvert was born Dec 8 1858
Abigail H. Calvert ws born Nov 2oth 1859
Mary E. Calvert was born September the 24th 1861
Sallie B. Calvert was born March the 6th 1867

MARRIAGES
John Calvert and Dorocas Collyar was married October the 14th, 1802
James Mahan and Dorcas Calvert was married November the 25th, 1841
Noding L. Calvert and Agnes W. Brodges was married September 28th, 1841
Eliza Calvert and P.R. Wray was married March 3rd, 1880

DEATHS
John Calvert died September the 13th 1839
Dorcas Mahan, late Dorcas Calvert departed this life June the 1st,
1843, in the fifty-eight year of her age.
George T. Calvert died March the 15th 1847
Sarah E. Calvert died February the 8th 1848
Eri Calvert died December the 19th,1858
Abigail H. Calvert died November the 30th 1860
Lavenia A. Calvert died Sept. the 7th, 1861
Noding L. Calvert , died February the 11th 1870
Sallie B. Calvert died June the 25th 1871
Agnes W. Calvert died August the 4th 1878

TSeabaugh@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hello my name is Troy Seabaugh, According to our family record book I do
> believe we have the same entry. If you see this to be true please let me know
> so that we may work discuss this.
>
> William Calvert
> born Feb. 26, 1757 died May 31, 1834
> Married July 18, 1780 to Elizabeth Nodding born 2 -29-1761 died 11-6-1826
> Children
> John Calvert Oct. 18, 1781 died Sept. 13, 1839
> Married Dorcas Collyar

From book "Tennessee Frontiers" by John R. Finger 2001 University of Indiana Press: page 171 ---" Though Tennessee adoped North Carolina's restrictive manumission laws, it was not uncommon for early slave owners to free their property. During the first decade of statehood a number of antislavery advocates, often employing the rhetoric of morality and revolutionary patriotism, petitioned the legislature to pass more liberal manumission legislation. One such advocate was William Calvert , who in 1804 invoked humanitarian principle in seeking permission from the Washington County court to free several slaves once they had reached adulthood. Calvert insisted, however, that the slaves first compensate him for the costs of their rearing. And the 1796 state constituion tacitly acknowledged the citizenship of African-Americans by allowing free black males to vote and hold certian kinds of property."